“While best
known for its tourist and convention business, Orlando has a strong technology and
medical business base,” says NFIB member Kevin McCarthy, founder of On-Purpose
Partners, a business-advisory company in Winter Park, Florida (just outside
Orlando). “We’re still a big service economy here, but with the University of
Central Florida, Valencia College, Rollins College and Full Sail University,
we’re much more than just tourism and entertainment.”

2. Be
aware of the city’s vibe

Because of
the warm climate, Orlando is an informal city, McCarthy says, and business
casual is the typical attire for the vast majority of the business community.

The casual
look can be off-putting to some people, especially those coming from more
traditional business centers in colder climates, such as Chicago or New York.
Yet the lack of three-piece suits doesn’t lessen the seriousness of Orlando
business owners. Entrepreneurs should embrace cultural norms, McCarthy says,
because doing so helps connect them with the local community when hiring
employees, marketing your business, serving customers and creating and nurturing
your company culture.

3. Embrace
Economic Opportunity Beyond Mickey Mouse

“We’re about
to start a branding campaign that’s called ‘Orlando: You Don’t Know the Half of
It,’” says Jerry Ross, executive director of the National Entrepreneur Center,
based in the city. “[A bevy of tourist attractions] is mostly what people think
Orlando is, but they don’t realize all the business that is going on here too.”

But beyond the
likes of a Disney World or Universal Studios, Ross says Orlando’s top two growing
industries with opportunities for small business owners are technology and
medicine. The city sits in the middle of Florida’s High Tech Corridor, which is
a technology-rich region connected by three research universities—University of
Florida, University of Central Florida and University of South Florida—as well
as a variety of economic development organizations, industry groups and tech
companies, all of which seek to develop the state’s technology industry.

Orlando is
also home to Lake Nona Medical City, a 650-acre health and life sciences park
devoted to medical care, research and education. Through Medical City and the
institutions housed there—University of Central Florida Health Sciences campus,
Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, VA Medical Center, Nemours
Children’s Hospital and University of Florida Academic and Research
Center—Orlando is becoming a medical destination for care and treatment,
research and education.